There&rsquo;s a flip side to everything going digital and getting connected to the internet. Hackers are finding new ways to break into things &mdash; from residential power meters to nuclear power plants.

Hack attacks

Business Standard

The decontrol of phosphatic (P) and potassic (K) fertilisers through the introduction of a nutrient-based subsidy (NBS) regime in April 2010 was considered a significant stride towards reform. Similar measures were promised for urea, the most-consumed nitrogenous (N) fertiliser. The euphoria over these changes has now waned; their intended objectives have not been met.

Time to fix fertiliser policy

The UPA government may insist it&rsquo;s not missing Pranab Mukherjee but the vacuum left by his departure for Rashtrapati Bhavan is evident to anyone perusing government websites. The list of Cabinet ministers has been removed not just from the prime minister&rsquo;s official website but also from the Cabinet Secretariat site.

The missing link

There are now two theories of who provides the real support for Anna Hazare. The old one is that he and his movement are the creation of the right wing and that they were actually card-holding members of some of its parties. The newer theory is that Hazare is actually an agent of &ndash; hold your breath &ndash; the ruling Congress party. During the second instalment of his anti-corruption protest in the capital, there are two sub-theories to this one. The first is that the Congress needs Hazare&rsquo;s protest badly to distract attention from its plan to push such reforms as foreign direct investment in retail through the Cabinet without too much opposition from the allies. The second explanation hinges on a possible Hazare-led political front ahead of the 2014 general elections. If it becomes popular, the explanation goes, then the votes going to the Opposition would be split and the Bharatiya Janata Party would be the loser.

Congress' Hazare 'advantage'

With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in charge of the finance ministry, the usual hectic activity in North Block has given way to a calm and peaceful atmosphere with few visitors signing in to meet officials. A senior official from the Prime Minister&rsquo;s Office pointed out that, ideally, this was the way things should be. The policies and functioning of the ministry should be so transparent and stable that industry, and businessmen in particular, should not be tempted to visit the minister or the officials for favours. Most businessmen would agree with him &mdash; and rue the fact that this isn&rsquo;t the reality.

Empty hope

You editorial &ldquo;Worries over growth&rdquo; seems to approve of the &ldquo;core inflation&rdquo; concept as a determinant of monetary policy. In this context, it is relevant to add that in the US, the concept of core inflation was developed for two reasons. First, because the volatility of food and fuel prices was unrelated to monetary factors, and, second, because they had relatively low weights (13.378 per cent and 4.525 per cent, respectively) in the price index. It helped eliminate non-monetary factors for policy making. Further, the Consumer Price Index for the US is for the urban population since fewer than five per cent of the people work in the rural/agricultural sector.

Letters: Redefining inflation

After pointing out that &ldquo;the primary responsibility for changing the mood belongs to the Union government...&rdquo;, your editorial suggests that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) lower interest rates to spur growth (&ldquo;Worries over growth&rdquo;, July 26). Not only is this view one-sided in that it ignores the government&rsquo;s role, but it also assumes that high interest rates are the chief cause of declining growth. As Sajjid Chinoy pointed out in Business Standard (&ldquo;Don&rsquo;t put the cart before the horse&rdquo;, July 25), our declining growth trajectory is the result of low investments caused by government policy (or lack thereof) and supply-side bottlenecks, for which the RBI is not responsible, nor does it control them. Tellingly, this view was endorsed by Indian businesses in a recent Crisil survey.

Letters: It's not the RBI

Apropos your report &ldquo;A year after, Team Anna resumes stir&rdquo; (July 26), I feel Team Anna&rsquo;s effort represents both the best and worst aspects of Indian democracy. Some in political circles view Anna Hazare&rsquo;s agitation as going against the Indian Constitution &mdash; because other remedies like FIR are available. The difficulty with this argument is that such remedies are available only in theory.

Letters: It's a long road to justice 

My investments include two plots of land valued at Rs 80 lakh and Rs 40 lakh, PPF of Rs 20 lakh, debt and equity mutual funds (Rs 6 lakh) and Ulip (Rs 10 lakh). I have Rs 4 lakh cash in hand.

Debt Counselling:  Sanjay Agarwal

The only gainer in all this is the CFA and its charter holders. Now since ICFAI will not be admitting students to its CFA course anymore, those who have already passed the CFA (ICFAI) exam will be at loss because now they would be holding the degree of a course which has been discontinued.

Student&#8217s corner

As the Reserve Bank of India meets to determine what it will do in the first-quarter review of monetary policy, due on July 31, it should keep a few things in mind. First, that India&rsquo;s growth has collapsed due to sinking investment is beyond doubt. Much of the reason is weak business sentiment, and while the primary responsibility for changing the mood belongs to the Union government in New Delhi; the management of expectations is also the province of the monetary authority.

Worries over growth

The regular failure of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to accurately predict the monsoon is so embarrassingly obvious that it has become the butt of jokes even in the agriculture ministry. For some of its regional predictions, the IMD provides a negative and positive margin of error expressed as a percentage of the long period average (LPA). Of late, the margins have been so wide as to lose all significance. One official suggested that this was a strategy to cover its failings. &ldquo;If the error margin is so huge there is no way the IMD can go wrong, because any rain would invariably have to fall within the range,&rdquo; he said.

Error-proof IMD

Reviving cricket ties to repair bilateral relations is not a bad idea, but it cannot make up for dismal co-operation on national security matters
Ayaz Memon
Sports journalist
&ldquo;if Pakistan can be given MFN status where trade is concerned, what&rsquo;s the big deal about resuming cricket ties? Why not exploit the common passion for cricket to improve relations?&rdquo;
Those who view Indo-Pak relations only from the prism of past conflicts are loath to allow a resumption of cricket ties

Should India host cricket matches for Pakistan?

The 53rd race of the globally famous Nehru Trophy Snake Boat Race is scheduled on August 11 at Punnamada Kayal in Alappuzha district of Kerala. But who won the 52nd race in 2011? The answer is &ndash; believe this &ndash; under judicial review. This is what happened. The Devas Chundan team won the race in 4.35 minutes and the runner-up was Karichal Chundan. Based on a petition filed by Karichal, the jury of appeal disqualified Devas. Karichal&rsquo;s allegation was that the Devas oarsmen did not wear uniform, as stipulated by the rules and regulations of the event, in the finals. Jesus Boat Club, the sponsors of Devas Chundan, then filed a petition in the Kerala High Court and that decision is awaited. So, bizarrely, fans of this boat race, for which Jawaharlal Nehru donated the trophy, will get to know the winners of the 2012 boat race on August 11. But they&rsquo;ll have to wait longer to discover the winner of the 2011 edition.

Race for a decision

If anyone had doubts about what ails the Indian economy, here is a short phone interview between our correspondent and a leading investment banker. Before the first question could be asked, the banker said, &ldquo;This is the worst government I have ever seen. Can the Congress party win any of the states alone without any support?&rdquo; Our question: &ldquo;Boss, what about outbound deals in the resources space?&rdquo; His answer: &ldquo;But, do you think BJP is prepared for the elections? If they project Modi as the PM, they will lose Bihar and Odisha for sure. Hmmm ... in Andhra, no option for the Congress but to negotiate with Jagan and make him the next CM. He&rsquo;s more powerful now.&rdquo; We try again: &ldquo;Sir, about the deals&hellip;?&rdquo; His retort: &ldquo;Arrey baba, go on leave for a month and come back. Something may happen then. Bye.

Banking on politics

Tony Tyler, director general and chief executive officer of the International Air Transport Association (Iata), a global industry trade body, says the European Union-Emission Trading Scheme is a regional programme, which cannot be imposed on the rest of ther world. In an interaction with reporters in New Delhi, Tyler says Europeans should withdraw the &ldquo;objectionable&rdquo; elements in the scheme in consultation with the International Civil Aviation Organisation. Edited excerpts.

Airlines will have to spend 14% profits on DIAL charges: Tony Tyler

I agree with Ajit Balakrishnan that the Libor scandal has once again eroded people&rsquo;s faith in the banking industry (&ldquo;Best New Summer Fiction: Libor&rdquo;, July 12). What&rsquo;s more disturbing is that in this case the collusion among traders was widely tolerated by the banks involved, and so the traders happily put in requests to manipulate Libor rates.

Letters: Libor lessons

This refers to the editorial &ldquo;Sacking Jute&rdquo; (July 25). it&rsquo;s a chicken and egg situation. Though the jute industry is well within its rights to seek greater support, on its part it needs to spend more on research and development to improve quality and keep pace with industry requirements. Effective ways must be found to pack sugar and other products using jute bags. This will not only ensure that workers in the labour-intensive jute industry do not lose their jobs, it will also save the environment from the toxic waste released by the polypropylene industry. Even for the cement industry, jute bags can be made usable by including a thin layer of plastic bags inside to prevent damage.

Letters: Don't kill the jute bag

I am a single mother, earning Rs 80,000. I have to provide for my parents and a five-year-old son. I have two bank deposits (Rs 1 lakh each, maturing in two years) and a recurring deposit (Rs 3,000). I have Rs 3 lakh in my bank account. I have a surplus of Rs 50,000 every month.

Financial Planning:  Malhar Majumder

The era of bank secrecy is over,&rdquo; declared a 2009 G20 communique &mdash; except it isn&rsquo;t, apparently. While black money worldwide has likely decreased following amnesty schemes and stepped-up enforcement in the last three years, it is clear that it has not gone far enough.

Attacking tax havens

Once again, the department of petrochemicals has suggested that the law that requires foodgrain and sugar to be packed exclusively in jute bags be modified or repealed. This move, while a sad reflection of how government departments can turn into lobbyists for their industry (in this case, plastic bags), nevertheless deserves a closer look. Similar attempts in the past led to the requirement being eased somewhat, allowing a small part of the industries&rsquo; product to be packed in other kinds of bags. Such relaxations have invariably been rolled back on political pressure. The outcome of the present move may not be vastly different, given that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee appears to disapprove it strongly &mdash; unsurprising, given most of India&rsquo;s jute industry is in that state.

Business Standard

Business Standard

Page 867 - Business Standard

Hack attacks

Time to fix fertiliser policy

The missing link

Congress' Hazare 'advantage'

Empty hope

Letters: Redefining inflation

Letters: It's not the RBI

Letters: It's a long road to justice

Debt Counselling: Sanjay Agarwal

Student’s corner

Worries over growth

Error-proof IMD

Should India host cricket matches for Pakistan?

Race for a decision

Banking on politics

Airlines will have to spend 14% profits on DIAL charges: Tony Tyler

Letters: Libor lessons

Letters: Don't kill the jute bag

Financial Planning: Malhar Majumder

Attacking tax havens